"I was."
"And you knew each other abroad?"
"We came to know each other very well. We were, in fact, commissioned at the same time and place, but Colonel Nelson received his a moment earlier than I received mine, therefore he outranked me. Now then, permit me to retire while you and he--"
"Oh, there"s nothing confidential about what I have to say. It"s good news for my partner, and I"m sure he"d love to share it." To Nelson she announced, "Pete has a showing of oil!"
The vice-president of the bank murmured something which was lost in Gray"s quick inquiry: "Partner? Are you a partner of Colonel Nelson"s?"
"After a fashion. We own a twenty-acre lease west of "Burk"--that is, I have a quarter interest and Henry is putting down a well. I drove out there, and his driller told me it is looking good."
Gray turned a keenly inquisitive gaze upon his enemy, and what he saw, or fancied he saw, gave him the thrill of a new discovery. It may have been no more than intuition on his part, but something convinced him that his acquaintance with Miss Good deeply displeased the man. If he knew Henry Nelson as well as he believed he did, it was more than disapproval, more than mere personal dislike, that smoldered in the latter"s eyes. This was luck!
In his warmest tone he cried: "Congratulations, my dear Colonel.
However badly you have fared in the Ranger district, fortune favors you here. But why only a quarter interest? You put too low a price upon your blessings. I"ll better that arrangement. Why, I was ready to offer Miss Good a full half of all I have, when she played a heartless jest upon me. Ran away! Disappeared! I"ll admit I was piqued. I was deeply resentful, but--"
Nelson interrupted this flow of extravagance. ""Miss Good"?" he said, curiously. "Why does he call you that, "Bob"?"
"A secret! A little game of pretense," Gray declared, nastily. "For the sake of our friendship, Colonel, don"t tell me her real name and rob me of the pleasure of hearing it from her own lips. Come, Miss Good!
Enough of money making and oil wells and stupid business affairs. I am going to bear you away upon my arm, even at the risk of displeasing my superior officer. Ha! Lucky the war is over. Now then, your promise."
Gray"s impetuosity, his buoyancy, robbed his speech of boldness, nevertheless Barbara Parker flushed faintly. She was ill at ease; she felt sure she had erred in interrupting these two men; she was glad of an excuse to leave.
Gray lingered a moment, long enougn for his eyes to meet those of the banker. In his there was a light of triumph, of mockery, as he said:
"A pleasant interview, wasn"t it, Colonel? And now we understand each other perfectly. A fair fight and no quarter asked."
Henry Nelson stood motionless as he watched his two callers leave the bank together, then slowly he clenched his muscular hands, and from his lips there issued an oath better left unwritten.
CHAPTER XI
It was several moments after they had left the bank before "Bob" Parker could manage to slip a word in edgewise, so rapid, so eager was Gray"s flow of conversation, so genuine was his pleasure at again seeing her.
Finally, however, she inquired, curiously:
"What was it you said to Henry Nelson as I came out? "No quarter asked"?"
Her escort stared down at her, his brows lifted, his tone betrayed blank astonishment. ""No quarter asked"? Bless me! What are you talking about?" Then his face cleared. "Now I remember--I said I had found quarters at last. The town is so crowded, you know; I didn"t want him to feel bound to put me up. I abhor visiting. Don"t you?"
"Are you really good friends? I felt very queer, the instant after I had walked in. But--I was bursting with good news and I couldn"t see Henry"s face until too late. Then, it seemed to me--"
"Nelson and I are scarcely "good" friends--we never were chummy--but we were thrown together in France and saw a lot of each other. At first, my respect for him was not great, for he is a--difficult person to understand; but as my understanding grew, so did my respect. He is a remarkably capable man and a determined fighter. Admirable qualities in a soldier. My call to-day was in the nature of a ceremonial."
"Um-m! There"s a ceremony before every duel--the salute. I thought I could hear the ring of steel."
Gray laughed off the suggestion. "Merely the jingle of officers" spurs, I a.s.sure you. We amateurs cling to the Regular Army pomp and practice.
Frankly, I love it; I admire the military method--a rule for every occasion, a rigid adherence to form, no price too high for a necessary objective. And the army code! Ironclad and exacting! Honors difficult and disgrace easy. One learns to set great store by both. You"ve no idea, Miss Good, how precious is the one and how-hideous is the other."
"You mustn"t call me Miss Good any longer," the girl told him. "My name is Barbara Parker."
"Oh, I like that!"
"I"m more generally known as "Bob.""
"Even better! It sounds tomboyish."
"It"s not. It is Tom Parkerish. Father insisted on calling me that and--it stuck. He"s a man"s man and my being a girl was a total surprise to him. It completely upset his plans. So I did my best to remedy the mistake and learn to do and to take an interest in the things he was interested in."
"Those were--?"
Miss Parker looked up from beneath her trim velvet hat and her blue eyes were defiant. "All that people like you disapprove of; all that you probably consider undignified and unladylike, such as riding, roping, shooting--"
"Riding--unladylike? It"s very smart. And why do you say people "like me"? There are no people like me."
"You know what I mean. You"re not a Westerner. You are what a cowpuncher would call a swell Easterner." Ignoring Gray"s grimace of dislike she went on, deliberately exaggerating her musical Texas drawl.
"You are a person of education and culture; you speak languages; you have the broad "a," and if you had to go unshaven it would be a living death. You are rich, too, and probably play the piano. People like that don"t admire cow-girls."
The man laughed heartily. "In spite of my broad "a" and my safety razor, I"m as much of a man"s man as your father. Frankly, I don"t admire cowgirls, but I do admire you and everything you say about yourself adds to that admiration. If your father is Tom Parker--well. I congratulate you upon an admirable taste in the selection of parents."
"Do you know him?" Barbara eagerly inquired.
"No. But I know of him and I know what he stands for. I think we have many things in common, and I venture to say that he is going to like me."
Barbara smiled. This vibrant stranger had an air about him and an irresistible magnetism. It was flattering to receive marked attentions from a person of his age and consequence--the girl felt an access of importance--and the tone of his voice, his every look, a.s.sured her that she had indeed challenged his deepest interest. She colored faintly as he ran on:
"So you"re a partner of Henry Nelson"s! He doesn"t deserve it and--our friendship ceases. I shall now hate him. Yes, henceforth he and I shall be enemies."
"I love to be flattered, but please don"t become Henry"s enemy. The most dreadful things happen to them."
"He pretends to be a friend, but in reality he is a suitor--a detestable suitor--and the ties of business bind you closer! I see it all. I--I consider it abominable." Gray"s tone was as gay as his demeanor had been thus far, nevertheless he was probing deliberately, and the result appeared to verify his earlier suspicions. Calm as he had appeared to be during that interview in the bank, in reality he had been, and still was, in a state of intense nervous excitement; his mind was galloping; the effect of that clash had been to rouse in him a keen exaltation and a sense of resistless power. If Henry Nelson was seriously interested in this girl, he reasoned, here then was another weapon ready shaped--a rapier aimed at his enemy"s breast--and all he had to do was grasp it. That promised to be a pleasant undertaking. Nor had he any doubt of success, for Barbara Parker had aroused his liking so promptly that reason--and experience--told him they must be in close sentimental accord. Even had she proven less responsive, he would still have been confident of himself, for few women remained long indifferent to his zeal, once he deliberately set about winning them. To build upon that subtle, involuntary attraction, therefore, and to profit by it, appeared advisable, nay, necessary, for henceforth all must be grist that came to his mill. In view of his declaration of war, he could afford to scorn no advantage, however direct or indirect its bearing.
"Tell me about the Briskows," Barbara demanded.
"Of course! I"m dying to do so, but"--Gray looked at his watch--"even the good must lunch. No doubt you abhor the public eating places, but, alas--"
"I do. So does everybody who tries them. But our cook has been speculating in shares, and yesterday she stalked majestically from the kitchen. She was a wretched cook, anyhow; but we couldn"t afford a better one. We"re very poor, dad and I."
"Were poor. Not poor any longer, I hope."
"Oh, that well! It is exciting, isn"t it? Dad has gone out there to see it, so--Yes, I"ll lunch with you and be duly grateful."
"Where shall we go?"
Barbara"s brows drew together in a frown of consideration, and Gray told himself that she was even more charming when serious than when smiling. "Wherever we go, we"ll be sorry we didn"t go somewhere else.
We might try the Professor"s place. He"s a Greek scholar--left his university to get rich quick in the oil fields, but failed. He started a sandwich and pie counter--a good one--and it pays better than a pumper. But we"d have to sit on high stools and be scowled at if we didn"t gobble our food and make room for others. Then there is Ptomaine Tommy"s. Cafes are good and bad by comparison. After you"ve been here a few days you"ll enjoy Tommy"s."
"Then I vote for his poison palace. The very name has a thrill to it."